Judge blocks DA from getting Greyhound Friends' emails

Tuesday

Oct 10, 2017 at 5:54 PMOct 11, 2017 at 4:58 PM

Jonathan Phelps @JPhelps_MW

A Framingham District Court judge denied a prosecutor's request for access to emails sent to Greyhound Friends' kennel over a two-year period to be used as evidence in the animal cruelty case against the organization's former executive director.

During a pre-trial hearing Tuesday morning, the organization did agree to hand over some requested business records such as policies and procedures. A multi-day trial is set to start on Nov. 28.

Former Director Louise Coleman, 72, was charged in March with one felony count of animal cruelty following an investigation by multiple animal and law enforcement agencies. Greyhound Friends is a dog rescue shelter on Saddle Hill Road in Hopkinton.

Prosecutor Wendi Safran asked for the business records in a revised motion since the last hearing on Sept. 25. The district attorney has received emails providing insight into dogs being treated cruelly and the "state of mind" of Coleman's awareness of the harm being done to certain dogs after spending years in the kennel.

"However, these emails and documents only include those to and from cooperating witnesses," she wrote. "Based on those emails, the commonwealth has reason to believe that the defendant, in her capacity as executive director, did correspond with others regarding these topics and those emails would be highly relevant to charges at hand."

Elizabeth Reinhardt, attorney for the organization, said the request is "extraordinarily over broad" and a burden to the organization, which has no paid staff. Safran said the office will provide paper and ink if the organization needs it.

Coleman's criminal attorney, Daniel Cappetta, said he believes Safran wants the documents instead of calling witnesses to the stand at trial.

"They want their job to be easier," he said.

Judge Jennifer Stark asked Safran if attempts have been made to resolve the case short of trial and questioned the amount of resources the office is pouring into the case.

"You have a woman who has dedicated her life to helping animals," Stark said.

Stark previously denied Capetta's motion to dismiss the case.

Coleman’s felony charge stems from complaints between 2015 and 2017 of deteriorating conditions at the shelter. Inspection reports revealed unsanitary conditions and sick dogs not being diagnosed or treated for infectious and contagious diseases, such as hookworm, heartworm and Giardia, a parasite that lives in the intestines of dogs and can spread to humans.

During her March 29 arraignment, a judge ordered Coleman to stay away from the shelter as the case proceeds.

As part of the motion, Safran hopes to gather information on more than 60 dogs.

"These specific dogs were mentioned in paperwork from the MDAR, witness statements, and public letters as being dogs kept for long periods of time and/or transferred to other shelters because of behavioral or other issues," Safran wrote. "These documents go directly to the issue of dogs being kept for too long at GHF."

"The commonwealth contends that the defendant placed dogs outside the facility to prevent the authorities from seeing that she had custody of more dogs than her license allowed," she wrote.

Coleman resigned from the board of directors in March, and took a leave of absence as executive director before her termination on May 5.

On Jan. 23, Hopkinton animal control suspended Greyhound Friends’ license after the state ordered the shelter to stop taking in new out-of-state dogs because its kennel needed repairs. The state ordered the shelter to upgrade its individual kennels with heavier gauge chain-link fences, new hardware and a fresh coat of paint on the floors and walls.

The shelter remains closed.

Jonathan Phelps can be reached at 508-626-4338 or jphelps@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JPhelps_MW.